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WHISTLE AND I’LL CHECK YOUR DICE ROLL, LAD<\/h1>\n
First, then, a quick nod to a role-playing game drawing on the themes and tropes in the stories of M R James. Casting The Runes<\/em> is a new game of occult investigation, coming from The Design Mechanism in 2020, conceived of and written by author and journalist Paul St.John Mackintosh<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n We are admittedly fond of old Monty, and do tease him with our tragic parodies when the mood takes us:<\/p>\n It could never be said of Mr Pillington that he exhibited the slightest interest in an invigorating stroll – or even that he would stir himself as far as the cathedral close on foot should a hansom to be had, if truth be told. That his young photographically-minded friend Emmanuel Treves had persuaded him to contemplate a walking holiday through Suffolk was therefore an astonishment to many in Buntlebury.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt is\u2026 quite a large county,\u201d Mr Pillington\u2019s landlady confided, whilst measuring starch for her lodger\u2019s collars. \u201cQuite large indeed.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Mr Pillington made no reply, for his mind was aswim with the visions which young Treves had placed before him. Ancient and curious mounds which had barely been catalogued by the Suffolk Archaeological Society; quaint parish churches which held certain inscriptions, each a warning to the inquisitive or simply the rather bored, and most of all, the bookshops of Suffolk. These, Treves assured him, held numerous folios of considerable arcane import, obscure yet canonical gospels, rare unexpurgated copies of the Scrapbook of Solomon, and so much more.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n And thus it was, despite all protestations and glimmers of commonsense, that Mr Pillington and his companion left Buntlebury equipped only with an oddly inscribed whistle, a marvellously wrought figure of a cat from the cathedral pulpit, a stone carved with seven and a half eyes, a pair of rather heavy binoculars, and a sheet for any spare bed they might encounter.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor indeed,\u201d said Mr Pillington to the bemused station-master as they waited for the train to East Bergholt, \u201cWhat harm can befall us? Why, I have seen the most charming mezzotint of the old manor house which will be our \u2018base camp\u2019, as you old soldiers might call it \u2013 and scarce any of the figures depicted thereon showed the slightest sign of having murdered any children…\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In the distant past we played, and ran many campaigns in, various different role-playing games, until the sheer time commitment and the practicalities of gathering older, working gamers became too much hard work. One of the pleasures was in trying out new systems, and shifting backgrounds from the classic high fantasy of Dragonquest<\/em> and Powers & Perils<\/em>, through science fiction such as Space Opera<\/em>, to horror games such as Call of Cthulhu<\/em>. Would we have wanted to play in the world of M R James back then? Probably not. For this has to be a realm of disquiet, subtlety, understatement and painstaking research, and when we were young, we wanted to smite things.<\/p>\n Nowadays, however, this idea has far more appeal. Mackintosh is an accomplished writer of strange fictions; he has a strong literary background, an understanding of the borderlands, and has put much effort into the necessary period issues, being a Jamesian enthusiast himself, so this all looks promising. From the Introduction:<\/p>\n \u201cCasting the Runes is a roleplaying game (RPG) based on the GUMSHOE system for investigative RPGs, which was created by Robin Laws under the auspices of Pelgrane Press to model \u201cstories where investigators uncover a series of clues, and interpret them to solve a mystery\u201d – an apt description of much of the classic horror fiction of Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936). The unique character of James\u2019s stories, and his own personality, which fed into his creation of the sub-genre of the \u201cantiquarian ghost story,\u201d are what inspired us to create this game.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHere, player-characters, dubbed \u201cInvestigators\u201d for game purposes, proceed step by step to unearth the unearthly, under the guidance of Game Masters, or GMs for short. (Some James fans may prefer to designate their GMs as Masters in keeping with many Edwardian schools and colleges.)<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe classic ghost story, replete with \u201cmalevolence and terror, the glare of evil faces, \u2018the stony grin of unearthly malice,\u2019 pursuing forms in darkness, and \u2018long-drawn, distant screams\u2019,\u201d in James\u2019s words, is the mood we\u2019re aiming at. And for the occult detection element, read on\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Release of the game is to be supported by a Kickstarter campaign in January 2020. You can download an excellent preview pdf which tells you loads more about the game here:<\/p>\n Further news and updates will be found at: https:\/\/thedesignmechanism.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Onto the December release of Joshua M Reynold\u2019s<\/strong><\/span> new collection, Monmouth\u2019s Giants<\/em> (18thWall, 2019), Volume One in the Case Files of the Royal Occultist<\/em>. A number of readers may be familiar with the Royal Occultist – a position rather than a person – and with the many stories of Charles St Cyprian and his assistant Ebe Gallowglass. This collection starts, appropriately, with the first chronological tale of St Cyprian, who eventually becomes apprenticed to the Royal Occultist of the time (Thomas Carnacki), and is later the post-holder himself. Josh once said of him:<\/p>\n “Charles St. Cyprian is Rudolph Valentino by way of P.G. Wodehouse\u2019s Bertie Wooster\u2014impeccably dressed, hand-some, and a bit of a twit. He is a slim man in his late twenties, with an inordinate fondness for the sartorial creations of Savile Row…”<\/em><\/p>\n But he\u2019s not that much of a twit, in reality \u2013 he has his dark and cunning moments as well. These stories are always a great read. If St Cyprian brings style, wit and knowledge of the occult, Gallowglass brings obstinacy, inventiveness and her range of large-bore weaponry. They\u2019re quite the pair, and there\u2019s a very interesting note hidden away in the book:<\/p>\n \u2018Fane of the Black Queen\u2019 was written specifically for this collection, as a way of tying up Nephren-Ka\u2019s story in suitably epic fashion. This story is also the first Gallowglass-centric story in the series. She\u2019s a harder edged character than St. Cyprian, and less prone to explaining things, which noticeably changes the tone of things. There are fewer jokes, and more deaths. Foreshadowing, perhaps, as to what her tenure as Royal Occultist will be like\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Monmouth\u2019s Giants<\/em> contains thirteen stories, with five being new in print for the collection – \u2018The Charnel Hounds\u2019, \u2018The Faceless Fiend\u2019, \u2018Wendy-Smythe\u2019s Worm\u2019, \u2018Deo Viridio\u2019 and \u2018Fane of the Black Queen\u2019. A jolly good catch for the winter nights, and unlikely to disappoint.<\/p>\n on amazon us<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n You can also go straight to the 18thWall Productions site:<\/p>\n https:\/\/18thwall.com\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The late Sam Gafford and greydog had the pleasure of publishing Josh\u2019s Royal Occultist stories a number of times \u2013 the title story appeared in Sam\u2019s Carnacki: The New Adventures, whilst together we published the adventures \u2018Orbis Tertius\u2019, \u2018Terror on the Links\u2019 and \u2018The Bascomb Rug\u2019 in Occult Detective Quarterly (now Occult Detective Magazine). A new St Cyprian and Gallowglass tale should also be appearing in next year\u2019s anthology Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives, edited by John Linwood Grant, from Belanger Books.<\/em><\/p>\n Greydogtales interviewed Josh here:<\/em><\/p>\n http:\/\/greydogtales.com\/blog\/joshua-reynolds-royal-occultist-with-a-warhammer\/<\/a><\/p>\n Back to disquiet, though not generally in a Jamesian sense. Our final mention is of an anthology that we haven\u2019t had time to finish, and yet which offers such promise that we had to include it. Nox Pareidolia<\/em> (Nightscape, 2019), edited by Robert S Wilson<\/strong>,\u00a0 is the sort of wide-ranging anthology which reminds us why we read weird fiction, and probably why some other people don\u2019t – a massive collection of challenging yet rewarding tales.<\/p>\n Nox Pareidolia<\/em> has no earnest introduction about \u2018the field\u2019, nor any authors\u2019 notes. This is fitting. Many of the tales inside are illusory, elusive, and deliver no final judgement. There are stories which will rightly wow some readers, and stories which sit on that odd edge of simply being curious.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the nature of the vehicle – a train you ride to see what turns up on the journey, not one to get you to a comfy hotel where you can put your toothbrush down neatly next to the complimentary soap. Were there any such destination in Nox Pareidolia<\/em>, the place would be long abandoned, your room a gaping maw of inconsistencies, and the soap would stare at you as it writhed and rotted in the basin\u2026 hang on, what were we saying? Blimey, that gin was strong…<\/p>\n The contents page itself gives you a feel for what you might have in store \u2013 strange tales of disquiet and misleading perceptions, by talented contemporary authors:<\/p>\n That title may help, as well. Pareidolia<\/em>: the tendency for incorrect perception of a stimulus as an object, pattern or meaning known to the observer, such as seeing shapes in clouds, seeing faces in inanimate objects or abstract patterns, or hearing hidden messages in music.<\/em><\/p>\n And so with Nox<\/em>, you have a night (or many nights, because this is a hefty anthology) of something which was once identified with psychosis. The disturbed and disturbing relationships between reality \u2013 if there is such a thing \u2013 and perception. Of some of the randomly picked stories we have read so far, we can at least tease:<\/p>\n \u2018Unmoored\u2019 by Sean M Thompson<\/strong> is a flutter of true disquiet, even of fear, if you\u2019ve ever known anyone whose mind is failing due to dementia, and wondered what that meant for the You that is, and the You that might be to come. It\u2019s probably among the most worrying stories in the book, not because it takes you to strange imagined landscapes, but because it sits you in the living room, next to the framed photographs, and then it shreds you. Being so personal, it lingers.<\/p>\n S L Edwards<\/strong> delivers \u2018In The Vastness Of The Sovereign Sky\u2019, a politically-sourced narrative which this time concentrates less on the explicit horror of the broader politics and explores more the internal world of the protagonist, to provide a particularly effective ending. One of his best.<\/p>\n Gwendolyn Kiste<\/strong> delivers\u2026 Gwendolyn Kiste, which is more than some writers achieve in a lifetime. \u2018When The Nightingale Devours The Stars\u2019 is a slice of inexplicable events and explicable emotions, demonstrating once again her ability to build warped and wonderful bridges between the two.<\/p>\n Laird Barron\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Strident Caller\u2019 is blunt, brutal and very effective; Michael Wehunt<\/strong> swims into far different waters with a complex and fascinating piece, \u2018Hello\u2019, which plays with the reader, the genre, and social media. From a lesser writer it would be a enjoyable, referential conceit; from Wehunt, it achieves a heightened and serious complexity which weaves together Lionel Ritchie songs (yes, really), invented \u2013 or discovered? – fragments of fiction, and then other living horror writers, in order to break down all walls. The more grounded in real life the story becomes, the less you can be sure of reality:<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the same time there\u2019s the feeling that I\u2019m a writer being written\u2014a man\u2019s depiction of a female horror author, with the thoughts he would ascribe to her. It\u2019s the softest tingle on my skin, the softest catch in the throat when I breathe…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Intricate, disturbing and well worth reading.<\/p>\n Oh, and Nox Pareidolia<\/em> is fully illustrated with numerous striking plates by Luke Spooner<\/strong>, enhancing the mood even more. If you want to know what\u2019s really going on in weird fiction, you should go get this book.<\/p>\n on amazon us<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Nightscape Books are also running a special offer on their books until the end of the year (probably most useful for our North American listeners):<\/p>\n nightscape press<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n We shall certainly return on and off over the winter break, though if there’s good walking weather for the doggies, we might have to make the best of that as well…<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today, something for almost everyone – a forthcoming M R James project, an unusual recent horror anthology, and a collection of dashing occult detective adventures. We are, dear listener, always staggering\u00a0 and a bit exhausted at this time of year, so feel free to skip around in the chaos below… WHISTLE AND I’LL CHECK YOUR … Continue reading Disquiet Considered as A Helix of Semi-Precious Stories<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>casting the runes free preview<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\nTHERE WERE GIANTS IN THOSE DAYS, BUT IT’S OK, WE SHOT ‘EM<\/h1>\n
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\nUNDER A WORRYING MOON<\/h1>\n
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